'2 Guns' Financer Emmett/Furla Receives Coin From Oasis Ventures

July 22, 2013|Dave McNary | Variety

Emmett/Furla Films, a financer of the Mark Wahlberg-Denzel Washington actioner "2 Guns," has found new financing from the Middle East by selling an undisclosed stake in itself to Dubai-based Oasis Ventures Entertainment.

The announcement was made by Emmett/Furla principals Randall Emmett and George Furla and Oasis Ventures Entertainment chairman Marwan Al Bawardi.

As a result of the investment, Emmett/Furla has been re-named Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films and will open an office in Dubai. Oasis Ventures had been investing in the Emmett/Furla slate since last year, according to Oasis Ventures chief operating officer Daniel Pfeffer.

"We have worked with EFF for the last year and half and are thrilled with the quality of films they produce and finance," Pfeffer said in a statement. "We are committed to supporting the growth and infrastructure of EFOF. Our investment will allow EFOF to compete internationally and strengthen their studio relationships as well as co-financing partnerships."

Emmett said in a statement, "We are excited about working with Oasis and really see tremendous synergy. We will continue financing our bigger budget studio co-productions and will be more aggressive than ever in our financing commitments."

The Oasis financing was first reported by the Deadline.com site.

Emmett/Furla's last major financing was announced a year ago when it announced it had partnered with Envision Entertainment to raise $275 million -- a year after Emmett/Furla and Envision's Stepan Martirosyan and Remington Chase announced during the Toronto Film Festival that they'd partnered to establish a $250 million revolving equity and debt fund.